By JOHN KLINE
It was all about fun and food in Middlebury Friday afternoon with the kickoff of the town’s first Fun February Fridays event.
Held at Old Hoosier Meats, 101 Wayne St., the event is the first in a new series initiated by local business and Chamber of Commerce members as a way to get people out and engaged during the gloomy month of February.
Friday’s event, coined the “Ground Hog Cooking Contest,” was a special cooking contest held in honor of Groundhog Day that required entrants to submit dishes containing pork sausage.
“This is the first time we’ve had an occasion like this here in Middlebury,” said Sam Pohl, Middlebury Chamber representative and judge for the event. “This really just came as an idea spurred from Goshen’s First Fridays, and taking from that and wanting to get away from the winter blues and cabin fever. Randy (Grewe), the owner of Old Hoosier Meats, and a few of the other merchants came up with the idea for this series.
“It’s just a great way to promote community, and promote retail as well,” he said.
Approximately 12 contestants entered dishes for Friday’s event, with first- and second-place prizes awarded.
“There really aren’t many rules when it comes to the contest,” said Grewe, who also served as a judge for the event. “We just kind of make them up as we go. It does have to have ground pork in it, but it could be a chocolate pie for all we care, as long as it has some pork in it.”
Taking home the top prize was Tammy Bullock, Middlebury, who received a $30 Old Hoosier Meats gift certificate for her spinach and sausage “Ground Hog Pita Pockets” submission.
Middlebury’s Rich Milewski took home the second place prize for the event, earning a special gift bag full of some of Old Hoosier’s most popular items for his sweet and sour “Hulla Hog” stew.
“This was really a lot of fun. It’s my first time ever entering a cooking contest,” Milewski said of the event. “I love to cook, and I also work with the local Boy Scouts and love to teach them to cook as well.”
Milewski said he’s all for events like Fun February Friday if it helps people get out and involved with the community.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Milewski said. “I definitely support it.”
The Fun February Fridays series will continue next Friday with the fourth-annual Varns and Hoover Hardware Store Chili Cook-Off.
Participants are asked to take their favorite chili dishes to the store, 101 S. Main St., by 11 a.m., with judging beginning at 11:30 a.m. and continuing until approximately 1 p.m.
A third planned event, “Dreaming of Chocolate,” has been scheduled for the following Friday, Feb. 19, at The Flower Petal, 200 W. Warren St.
For the event, participants must submit their favorite chocolate dish for judging by 10 a.m., with judging expected to go until 4 p.m.. The winner of the contest will then get the opportunity to sell their dish at the shop over the Easter holiday.
